2025 was a year of building, expanding, and showing what becomes possible when justice-impacted people have real pathways forward. Together, we served 176 individuals through housing, invested $1.3M+ directly into people, graduated 30 Pathways 4 Equity fellows, and continued creating platforms where justice-impacted women are paid, heard, and positioned to lead. But our impact is bigger than numbers. It is a key turning in a new door. A career beginning. A story reclaimed. A family finding stability. Read The LOHM’s 2025 Impact Report and see what we built together, and where we’re going next.
FOWI HEALING HUB APPLICATIONS OPEN
Applications are now open for the next FOWI Healing Hub, a six-week experience designed to support healing, build confidence, and equip participants with practical tools for what comes next. Through workshops and community-centered sessions, participants will strengthen their skills in public speaking, storytelling, digital and financial empowerment, mental health, and entrepreneurship while building meaningful connections in a supportive environment. The next cohort begins September 15, 2026. Apply today and take the next step in your journey.
FOWI HIGHLIGHT: MARTA BARETTO ON BEYOND THE MONSTERS PODCAST
FOWI and Pathways 4 Equity alum Marta Barreto recently joined the Beyond the Monsters podcast for a deeply personal conversation about survival, incarceration, healing, and what it takes to rebuild a life after trauma. In the episode, Marta shares her journey through childhood abuse, trafficking, addiction, incarceration, motherhood, and the long road toward healing. She also speaks candidly about the harm caused when people are reduced to labels like “addict” or “felon,” and why second chances must include dignity, opportunity, and the space to be seen as more than your past.
Watch Marta’s full conversation on Beyond the Monsters.
LOHM EVENTS:
WOMEN OVER DINNER NEW ORLEANS
The LOHM and Women Over Dinner are hosting the very first Women Over Dinner in New Orleans, and we are pulling up chairs for a night that is all about the women of Hope House NOLA. There is something sacred that happens when women gather around real food, real conversation, and no reason to be anywhere but present. No performance. No pretense. Just sisterhood, and a shared belief that every woman deserves a place to come home to. Every seat you fill helps fund Hope House NOLA and the women rebuilding their lives inside it.
Be part of the first. Save your seat.
BLAZERS & BUTTERFLIES
Some rooms ask you to explain yourself. This one does not. On October 17, we're bringing a runway to Laurel, Maryland. Models from across our community, ages 6 and up, walking in blazers they chose themselves. Dinner, a live auction, and a room that came to look with admiration instead of judgment. The night also launches Held & Heard, our reentry program for young people ages 15 to 24 who are justice-impacted and impacted by domestic violence.
Saturday, October 17, 2026
4:00 PM · 347 Main Street, Laurel, Maryland 20707
Wear your favorite blazer. Add a butterfly. Seating is limited. Learn more and RSVP at the link below. Can't make it? Text LOHMBLAZERS to 41444 to support.
FOUNDER HIGHLIGHT: DR SAM ON MEET ME AT THE HIGHLAND
Our founder and CEO Dr. Topeka K. Sam sat down with Meet Me at the Highland for a conversation that goes straight to the heart of everything we do. She talks about moving past "freedom from" to "freedom to", the freedom to heal, to rest, to rebuild, to dream, and to decide for yourself what comes next. Because freedom cannot end at release. It has to include the opportunities, the resources, and the support to truly move forward. That belief is the whole reason The LOHM exists.
MAKE AN IMPACT
Behind every number in our 2025 Impact Report is a woman who was told no, and a community that decided otherwise. You are that community. Your gift is not charity. It is a key turning in a new front door. It is a first paycheck. It is a sister discovering that her past does not get to write her future. Every dollar you give goes directly into that work, into people, not overhead. There are still women waiting for their chance to rise. Will you help us reach them?